If you are putting parking near the trees be careful of damaging their roots. Some trees will be OK, but others can be damaged by the compaction of their roots. Ideally, I would install PAVERS that allow grass to grow through them. However, gravel is sufficient for farmhouse parking. The point is to allow rain to soak into the ground rather than run off.

The walkway, being smaller, can be concrete or brick to match the porch columns. Anywhere people regularly walk is better done in solid, durable materials. The STEPS should have risers so they are more substantial.

mindshift (8B), when you say you would install pavers, you mean for the parking?

ksmetamaid, yes. I have links in my post to show what I mean. The green capital letters are the link. One says PAVERS; one says STEPS. Click on them. These particular pavers are similar to concrete block in that they have holes in them. The pavers are usually laid on top of sand and the holes filled with soil. The soil is then seeded with grass. The paver prevents the weight of vehicles from compacting the soil. Here is another PHOTO. Look up permeable pavers for more info. I do not know if they are useful in areas that have frost heave, but I've seen several different types.

Before committing to use the type of pavers that allow grass to be grown within the paver field, be aware that over time this type of paver settles correlating with the vehicles used on it. Heavy vehicles can cause depressions that can almost be called ruts. This happens slowly over time. Regular, solid paving, since it completely covers a surface, doesn't allow base material (which is usually sand) to work its way upward (while the paver is being pressed downward by weight and gravity) through holes in the surface. Grasscrete and similar pavers, having a continuous series of holes in the surface, allows base material to migrate upward when the paver is pushed downward. Since gravity is always working the paver does not return to its former elevation. It gradually sinks into the ground and the only way to fix it is to pull the sunken pavers up and reinstall base material below them. IMO, a residence does not seem like the ideal kind of place to use this type of paver. I think its better use is commercial situations where there is a need for temporary parking or auto circulation. Too, in this particular situation with a very large yard, I can't imagine that the grasscrete type of paver makes an environmental difference worth having. There is plenty of surrounding yard to absorb runoff from a private residence parking area. Since regular solid pavers absorb runoff much more than regular concrete, it seems one would find them satisfactory. In a rural situation as here, it would be very hard to make a case that residential concrete paving was somehow harmful to the environment.

And, BTW, after enlarging your picture, it seems that a traditional set of concrete steps -- but nice and wide (at least 6') and with generous treads (16") -- would be ideal if they were flanked by some brick (to match your porch corner columns) cheekwalls. The cheekwalls should have traditional looking 4" thickness caps.

mind shift and aardvaark, Thank you. We live on a gravel road with a gravel driveway and a gravel parking area behind the house, with lots of yard, pasture and fields in between and around us. Gravel for the parking area is about the only decision that's been easy to make! Thanks, again.